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Colin said, "I know what I want to give you for Christmas, and I want to go get it soon because it's on sale at Aldi."

Me: "Aldi?"

Col: "Ah, they don't advertise in your paper, but they run a weekly ad in mine that lists all the sale prices for the week."

Me: "I've seen their TV ads. Fruit and broccoli. And I think salmon. I don't really want broccoli and salmon."

Col: "I promise, no broccoli or salmon. But I need you to come with me because I might need help putting it in the car."

So we went to Aldi. I'm getting a telescope for Christmas. Hooray!

cool. The ideal gift for the peeping tom in all of us

How much my missus wants one of them? is it any good?

Magic Chris wrote:How much my missus wants one of them? is it any good?

Suitable for a rank beginner, I would think (which includes me). Not by any known maker. It was £60, which is dirt cheap, and you generally get what you pay for with telescopes, so I'm not expecting too much.

It'll probably be similar to the telescope I had when I was a kid, OK for looking at the Moon and seeing Jupiter as a disc instead of a point. If you're intending to progress to "serious amateur" with any speed, you'd probably be better off buying a better scope to start with, or really powerful binoculars.

The box is big enough to be hard to hide if you're looking at it for a Christmas present!

Coo, you lucky thing, you. The night sky is an absolutely fabulous thing to see and amateur astronomers in their back gardens can and regularly do make important contributions to astronomy. You might get a comet named after you! Comet Robbie.

We unpacked the telescope last night to check it was all there and unbroken.

It looks a bit better quality than my estimate above. Definitely a beginner's setup, but pretty nice. It's a reflector scope. Comes with a tripod, 3 eyepieces, a Barlow lens (turns the image right-side-up), and a moon filter. Also a sky map computer program so you can tell what's up there on any given night, and a beginner's book about telescopes and astronomy.

It's all packed up again now and hidden away until Christmas. I don't think Col expects me to act surprised.

As Darth Vader said...

"Luke... Luke, I know what you're getting for Christmas, Luke."
"Noooooo! That's not true! Don't tell me! How can you possibly know!"
"Luke...

...I have felt your presents."

Sorry, couldn't resist